B2E News Alert – Education Business Intelligence

Happy Friday, friends – another busy week as we roll into back-to-school season! And our EdNET team is very, very busy wrapping up final details for our 20th anniversary conference in Boston in a few weeks. But the Snoop always makes time for your scoops, so here they are for this week….

You will see our friend, Frank Catalano, at EdNET, and I want to let you know he is in the midst of a career change. After four years at Pearson, he has left after having a series of increasingly interesting roles. He started as SVP Marketing for the Assessment & Testing Group (now called the Assessment & Information Group), then was SVP Marketing for all the U.S. K-12 businesses, and then led the integration of marketing and related services of Harcourt Assessment into Pearson. The last project has now wrapped up, so he is departing. Frank said his goal the entire time was to improve the quality, consistency and effectiveness of Pearson's marketing and PR efforts across its businesses, with "marketing" defined broadly and classically as everything from market trends to strategy to tactics, with the customer always as the focus. And since he has a technology business background, he was able to assist Pearson as the industry and customers moved toward tech-enhanced assessment and instruction. Right now, he is taking some time off to write and think. It's been a while since he has written a book, a piece of fiction or an essay – many of you may know he authored two of the Dummies books) – and he plans to do one or more of these now. While he is on this self-imposed sabbatical, he has created a placeholder consulting firm, Intrinsic Strategy, though he is quick to add that this doesn't mean he has decided to return to consulting, which he did for twelve years before joining Pearson. I love his current title: SVP Marketing (at large). Look for Frank at EdNET or check in with him now at frank@intrinsicstrategy.com.

Hey, no one called me on this one – you are reading, aren’t you?? Several weeks ago, I announced that Rob Fiance had joined Ascend Education as CEO. My sincere apologies to my friend Tom Fitzgerald (I hope we are still friends!) who is still very much the CEO of Ascend Education. However, Rob is CEO of Ascend Educational Products and Ascender Productos de Educacion, both based out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and he does also continue as Chairman of Edu2000. Sorry for the miscommunication there! Look for Rob at EdNET – he was a great help on our Industry Advisory Board this year – and you can contact him prior to that at RAFiance@aol.com.

MIND Research Institute is growing and expanding its national K-8 visual math education programs this fall and has announced four new executives to handle the program expansions and new projects. After a record setting year in 2007 toward its mission to improve students’ mathematics education, MIND Research increased the number of schools it serves by 53% and increased charitable support from donors by 40%. Helping to make this all possible behind the scenes was Sam Balooch, who has been with MIND for three years as Director of IT. He was recently promoted to Chief Information Officer to ensure MIND’s technical efficiency and develop new web-based products. He manages the daily information technology responsibilities of the company and the development of its web-based products and solutions. His expertise will enable MIND to incorporate the latest technology to meet schools’ demand to access its math education products online, enabling the company to serve many more students and teachers. Sam brings nearly 15 years of IT operations and executive management experience at start-ups and public companies including Sun Microsystems, Silicon Graphics, Intuit and Xceedium. His leadership and passion for technology has led to industry leading data center operations for Internet-based corporations while maintaining SOX and PCI compliance. He has also led several successful organizations in identifying and pursuing new opportunities in product and technology development. Sam serves on the Board of Advisors for various technology companies.

Ingrid Ellerbe will oversee marketing as MIND’s new Director of Corporate Communications. She brings more than 25 years of experience in the educational technology, curriculum and software publishing industries to the organization’s growing team of industry specialists. Among the companies that she helped move to the forefront through executive sales and marketing positions are Hewlett-Packard, Boxer Learning, Broderbund, Carnegie Learning, Davidson & Associates, SkillsBank, Edison Schools/Newton Learning, and Extreme Learning. In her new role, Ingrid will develop strategic initiatives while integrating key marketing efforts, including events and event promotion, direct marketing, advertising, lead generation, collateral development, promotions and public relations. The expanded marketing program she will oversee is crucial for MIND Research to grow its positive brand visibility, increase sales and reach more students across the U.S.

 

Fran Antenore is director of MIND’s new Math Initiative community partnership and grant program. She is highly qualified, with more than 30 years dedicated to her career in education. The Orange County Math Initiative is a community partnership among MIND Research, the Orange County Department of Education and local corporations to help K-12 teachers elevate students’ achievement in math. The partnership provides funding to schools for licenses for MIND’s intervention math courseware, math professional development and an annual program results evaluation. Fran is helping the first 71 Orange County schools selected to participate in the program to implement it this fall. She came to MIND from Irvine Unified School District where she was the principal at Venado Middle School for the last three years. Her career has emphasized teaching secondary mathematics at both the middle and high school levels, as well as school administration. She served as a high school assistant principal at both Irvine and Woodbridge High Schools, where she implemented a digital high school grant and created a nationally recognized Tech Staff program. Through the Educational Technology Center at UCI, she also designed math and science educational software.

Linda Catanzaro is Director of the new Professional Development department. These executives will help the organization expand vital efforts to support its innovative K-12 math education programs and research. She is a seasoned educator with almost 30 years of classroom teaching experience at both elementary and middle school levels. Supporting, training and mentoring teachers, especially in math, has been a part of her teaching assignment for over 25 years, including coaching teachers as a full time Peer Assistance and Review Consulting Teacher. She is working with MIND’s various departments to help move the company to the next level in its evolution by creating a professional development arm to the company. This will aid teachers and other personnel to more effectively implement MIND’s math courseware, support teachers in deepening their own mathematical understandings, and empower teachers to teach math in ways that will maximize student learning. She is helping to design new professional development workshops for teachers, connecting with and supporting teachers and students implementing the programs, and working to enhance the development and implementation of current and future products.

Please join me in congratulating Sam (sbalooch@mindresearch.net), Ingrid (iellerbe@mindresearch.net), Fran (fantenore@mindresearch.net) and Linda (lcatanzaro@mindresearch.net) on their new roles! 

The Grow Network/McGraw-Hill has launched the Parent Engagement Leadership Board, an independent panel of family and educational researchers, administrators, and practitioners. These experts will identify strategies and tools that can foster meaningful parental participation in education, which has been demonstrated to improve students’ academic success. The forum will provide these leaders with a unique opportunity to exchange ideas on how to better serve the educational community, students and parents through parental engagement. The recommendations and results of discussion will be published to assist and inform the education community as well as the community at large. The charter members of the Parent Engagement Leadership Board include:

• Dr. Steven Sheldon, director of Research, The Center on School, Family, and Community Partnerships, Johns Hopkins University

• Dr. Heather Weiss, director, Harvard University Family Research Project

• Pam Abrams, former editor-in-chief, Parent & Child Magazine

• Dr. Diana Greene, deputy superintendent, Marion County Public Schools (FL)

• Dotty Merrill, executive director, Nevada Association of School Boards

• Dr. Dan Domenech, executive director, American Association of School Administrators

• D’Lisa Crain, parent involvement coordinator, Washoe County School District, and grant administrator, Nevada State Parent Information and Resource Center

Please join me in congratulating each of these individuals for their work to help improve parental engagement, academic success and overall family involvement in education.

Debbie Yasenka, until recently the channel architect for Promethean, Inc., has joined Simtrol, Inc. as Vice President of Channels. Having joined Promethean immediately following its entry into the U.S. market, Debbie served as Vice President of Channels, responsible for the ground-up development and leadership of its North American sales channel. Prior to Promethean, she served as National Sales Manager for Apple Inc., where she directed a nationwide network of education resellers. Her previous roles include President of Visual Systems Development Group, Vice President of Analytical Technologies, Inc. and Strategic Alliances Director for Modis, Inc. Her core competencies lie in the recruitment, mentoring and leadership of all participants within the reseller channel. Her passion is in developing channel teams to become a driving force within the organization. Join me in congratulating Debbie on her new role!

The immensely talented Don Rawitsch, formerly with Siboney Learning Group, CTB/McGraw-Hill, Jostens Learning Corporation and others, has launched a new venture for the next stage of his career. This industry icon and pioneer and wonderful mentor and friend to many of us is now focused on helping small to medium size Web service companies grow their operational processes so they have a structure to support the growth of their business. From managing a project to managing company operations, Don can help your organization better organize your company for improved results. His best fit is probably businesses in years 1-10 of their initial growth, staffed by 10-100 employees. A full-time COO might not fit the needs of a young, growing company, but Don can provide you the opportunity to hire exactly what you need. Check out his website at http://www.InterimOps.com. Don will be at EdNET, and I know many of you will want to connect with him then. You can also contact him now at dgrawitsch3@aol.com.

DyKnow has been recognized as one of Indiana’s 50 “Companies to Watch”, acknowledging the company’s culture of innovation, unique products and entrepreneurial spirit. The award is presented by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, its Small Business Development Centers and Purdue University in association with the Edward Lowe Foundation. “Companies to Watch” celebrates Indiana’s privately held second-stage companies ranging from traditional businesses to high-tech companies. Indiana’s inaugural 50 “Companies to Watch” will be honored at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis on August 27th. Congratulations to the DyKnow team on this wonderful recognition!

I just have to share the news about our friend Charlene Blohm – she would never brag on herself, but one of her talented colleagues at C. Blohm & Associates couldn’t wait to brag on her boss! PRSourceCode has published its third annual list of "Top Tech Communicators", which is the IT editorial community's ranking of the best PR agencies and corporate PR departments. This year, Charlene was given an honorable mention! This is especially nice and also noteworthy since it covers PR professionals across all industries nationwide. Kudos from all of us, Charlene! You can drop her your own note of congratulations at charlene@cblohm.com.

And another friend, Luba Lewytzkyj, Manager, Eastern Region, for Atomic Learning, wrote this week about her August travels. She and husband Bob are just back from a 3-week trip to Ukraine (with side trips to Vienna and the trans Carpathian mountain region (near Hungary, Romania, Slovakia) - a trip jam-packed with all that friends, family and nature could offer. And the Ukrainian Horilka (spirits) remained with them for the duration! Luba reports that the saying, “may the Force be with you”, has taken on a totally new meaning! After brief visits with family, they headed for the celebration of the 9th annual Rev. Lewytzkyj Seminarian Scholarship Foundation, where they awarded 30 young men full year scholarships to attend one of three seminaries they subsidize in Western Ukraine. This brings the total scholarships awarded to 280 since the inception of the foundation. She remarked on the incredibly special ambiance of this year's venue, a monastery that is over 600 years old. 

She said time stands still in the village of her mother which is still without running water, except from the stream and pump they used for bathing; electricity and gas are rare; and the chickens, geese, horses and cows still have the right of way. This was also where her father had his first parish and where be built a cultural religious center in 1939 which remains the cultural hub of the entire region. She added that years of ravaging wars and invasion by the Germans and Russians left its marks on the Center, so she and Bob have embarked on a restoration project to bring the center back to its former glory in preparation for a vast region-wide celebration next year marking its 70th year. Wow! She said the joy of giving there is profound and humbling as total strangers approached them in tears and kissed their hands in gratitude. Another unearthed gem was the ability to speak with the very few remaining elders who still remember Luba’s parents 70 years after they left the village! 

Now get this – Luba was offered the position of mayor, and while the offer was interesting, she graciously declined. Ha! But she does think Mayor Luba Wolodymyrivna (patronymic is used after a lady's first name) has kind of a nice ring to it! The Carpathian mountain region where they spent much of their time experienced the worst flooding in more than 100 years, so the trip was not without hardship and heartbreak as they witnessed destroyed villages, roads and loss of life. She said many villages and towns are still cut off from the basic necessities and helicopters bringing in food and medical aid continue to fly overhead until roads are restored. Finally, as they left Ukraine last Saturday, she said they knew they were heading West when the taxi turned out not to be an old Soviet car but a Mercedes limo and the music not the ump pa pa of the mountains but beautifully classical, as only Vienna can provide. What a great description and wonderful trip! Send a hello to Luba or check further on her travels or her missed mayoral opportunity at luba@atomiclearning.com.

As part of EdNET's 20th anniversary celebration, our team launched a new component of the program - EdNET Foresight. As we examine how the industry has evolved over the past 20 years, EdNET Foresight will enrich the dialog at EdNET with the presentation of five commentaries by EdNET attendees on where K-12 schools and the marketplace should or could be in five years and how we can get there. With its presentations distributed across the conference agenda, EdNET Foresight aims to tap the wisdom of the EdNET community in yet another way that adds value to the conference experience. We had so many excellent submissions, and I want to recognize the five EdNET Foresight winners who will be sharing their vision at the conference:

• Larry Berger, CEO, Wireless Generation

• Ken Kay, CEO and Co-founder e-Luminate Group and President, Partnership for 21st Century Skills

• Kevin Pawsey, Managing Director, RM Educational Software

• Douglas Stein, Principal, MemeSpark LLC

• William Zaggle, President, Excelsior Software

Thanks so much to all who contributed such interesting submissions!

The Snoop has been watching the EdNET online networking directory of registered conference attendees already planning to join us in September! Starting this week, I will share with you each week leading up to the conference some of the organizations with whom EdNET attendees will have the opportunity to connect. This week, I want to highlight those firms who noted in their profile in the online password-protected directory of registrants an interest in the GRADES 4-8 MARKET:

Wow – a great list of organizations! Be sure you are registered to attend and that you have completed your own profile in the online directory so EdNET attendees can connect with you! It will be a great conference, I promise you!

That’s it for this week, friends! Have a special weekend and add some memories to your memory bank this weekend…Vicki, the Snoop

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